Shahid Afridi (Urdu: شاہدآفریدی), born Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (Urdu: صاحبزادہ محمد شاہد خان آفریدی born on 1 March 1980)[2] is a Pakistani cricketer. Between 1996 and 2012, Afridi played 27 Tests, 350 One Day Internationals, and 59 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for the Pakistani national team. He made his ODI debut on 2 October 1996 against Kenya and his Test debut on 22 October 1998 against Australia.
He is known for his aggressive batting style,[3] and holds the record for the fastest ODI century which he made in his first international innings, as well as scoring 32 runs in a single over, the second highest scoring over ever in an ODI.[4] He also holds the distinction of having hit the most number of sixes in the history of ODI cricket.[5] Afridi considers himself a better bowler than batsman, and has taken 48 Test wickets and over 350 in ODIs. Currently Afridi is third on the list of leading wicket takers in the Twenty20 format, behind Saeed Ajmal and Umer Gul of Pakistan, taking 62 wickets from 56 matches.[6] Shahid Afridi has signed to play for Sydney Thunder in Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash league.[7] In June 2009, Afridi took over the Twenty20 captaincy from Younus Khan, and was later appointed ODI captain for the 2010 Asia Cup. In his first match as ODI captain against Sri Lanka he scored a century however Pakistan still lost by 16 runs. He then also took over the Test captaincy but resigned after one match in charge citing lack of form and ability to play Test cricket; at the same time he announced his retirement from Tests. He retained the captaincy in limited-overs form of the game and led the team in the 2011 World Cup. In May 2011, having led Pakistan in 34 ODIs, Afridi was replaced as captain. Later that month he announced his conditional retirement from international cricket in protest against his treatment by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). However, in October he reversed his decision. UNICEF and Pakistani authorities have taken Shahid Afridi on board for its anti-polio campaign in the tribal belt of lawless Waziristan region.[8]
Contents
Biography
Background
Afridi was born on 1 March 1980 in Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan. He is from the Afridi tribe of Pashtuns,[2] and can speak Pashto, Urdu and English languages fluently. Afridi is married to Nadia and has four daughters.[9]International career
In October 1996 at the age of sixteen Afridi was drafted into the ODI team during the four-nation Sameer Cup 1996–97 as a leg spinner as a replacement for the injured Mushtaq Ahmed.[10] He made his debut on 2 October against Kenya, however he didn't bat and went wicketless.[11] In the next match against Sri Lanka, Afridi batted at number three in the role of a pinch-hitter. In his first international innings, Afridi broke the record for fastest century in ODI cricket, reaching his hundred from 37 balls. The eleven sixes he struck also equalled the record for most in an ODI innings.[12][nb 1] Aged 16 years and 217 days, Afridi became the youngest player to score an ODI century.[14] Pakistan posted a total of 371, at the time the second-highest in ODIs, and won by 82 runs; Afridi was named man of the match.[12]Two years after appearing on the international scene, Afridi made his Test debut in the third game of a three-match series against Australia on 22 October 1998.[15] By this point he had already played 66 ODIs, at the time a record before playing Tests.[16] He opened the batting, making scores of 10 and 6, and took five wickets in the first innings.[15] He played his second Test the following January during Pakistan's tour of India; it was the first Test between the two countries since 1990.[17] Again opening the batting, Afridi scored his maiden Test century, scoring 141 runs from 191 balls. In the same match he also claimed three wickets for 54 runs.[18] After winning the first match by 12 runs, Pakistan lost the second to draw the series.[19]
In 2001, Afridi signed a contract to represent Leicestershire. In five first-class matches he scored 295 runs at an average of 42.14, including a highest score of 164,[20] and took 11 wickets at an average of 46.45;[21] Afridi also played 11 one day matches for the club, scoring 481 runs at an average of 40.08[22] and taking 18 wickets at 24.04.[23] His highest score of 95 came from 58 balls in a semi-final of the C&G Trophy to help Leicestershire beat Lancashire by seven wickets.[24] Derbyshire County Cricket Club signed Afridi to play for them in the first two months of the 2003 English cricket season.[25] In June 2004 Afridi signed with English county side Kent to play for them in three Twenty20 matches and one Totesport League match.[26]
On 21 November 2005, Shahid Afridi was banned for a Test match and two ODIs for deliberately damaging the pitch in the second match of the three-Test series against England. Television cameras pictured him scraping his boots on the pitch scuffing the surface when play was held up after a gas canister exploded. Afridi later pleaded guilty to a level three breach of the ICC code of conduct relating to the spirit of the game. Match referee Roshan Mahanama said: "This ban should serve as a message to players that this type of behaviour is not allowed."[29][30][31]
On 12 April 2006, Afridi announced a temporary retirement from Test cricket so that he could concentrate on ODIs, with a particular focus on the 2007 World Cup, and to spend more time with his family. He said he would consider reversing his decision after the World Cup. Afridi had played ten Tests since being recalled to the side in January 2005, averaging 47.44 with the bat including four centuries.[32] However, on 27 April he reversed his decision, saying that "[Woolmer] told me that I am one of the main players in the team and squad and that Pakistan really needed me".[33] Before Pakistan toured England in July to September, Afridi played for Ireland as an overseas player in the C&G Trophy.[33] In six matches, he scored 128 runs[34] and took seven wickets.[35] England won the four-match Test series 3–0;[36] Afridi played two matches, scoring 49 runs[37] and took three wickets.[38] It was the last Test cricket Afridi played until 2010.[39]
Afridi was charged on 8 February 2007 of bringing the game into disrepute after he was seen on camera thrusting his bat at a spectator who swore at him on his way up the steps after being dismissed. Afridi was given a four-game ODI suspension, the minimum possible ban for such an offence, meaning that he would miss Pakistan's first two 2007 World Cup matches. The PCB and Afridi chose not to appeal the ban, despite feeling that the punishment was excessively harsh.[40]
In the 2007 World Twenty20, he performed poorly with the bat but brilliantly with the ball, earning the Man of the Series award, though he failed to take a wicket in the final and was out for a golden duck.But in the next ICC Twenty20 World Cup, held in 2009 Afridi performed brilliantly in the series scoring 50 runs in the semi-final and 54 in the final and leading his team to victory.
Captaincy (2009–2011)
Afridi with his team mates during the 2009 World Twenty20 in June 2009
In March 2010 the board announced that Shahid Afridi had been appointed ODI captain in place of the sacked Mohammad Yousuf he led Pakistan in the 2010 Asia Cup and during his first three matches as ODI captain he scored two centuries against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh he finished as the tournaments highest runscorer with 384 runs from 3 matches.
On 25 May 2010, Afridi was appointed captain of the national team in all three formats, after he announced his return to Test cricket.[44] In July 2010, Afridi captained Pakistan in the first Test of the series at Lord's against England. He scored 31 off 15 deliveries in the first innings and 2 in the second but was dismissed succumbing to rash strokes in both the innings. After the match, he announced retirement from Test cricket again citing lack of temperament for Test cricket as the reason.[45] Afridi was officially removed from the Test squad on the England tour, but after the spot-fixing scandal saw Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Test captain Salman Butt temporarily suspended by the International Cricket Council, he stated that he might return to Test cricket if "the team needs it".[46] According a representative of Afridi, he had voiced his concerns about Mazhar Majeed – who had approached Pakistan's players – in June.[47] Majeed also confirmed that he approached Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Younis Khan and Saeed Ajmal but all off them refused to be affiliated with him of his fixing menace. Worth mentioning is that the four names given above were not associated in the original scandal and that no disciplinary action have been taken against them by the sports governing body the International Cricket Council.[48]
In October, Afridi stated in an interview with Express News that the squad had been selected without his consultation; the PCB gave him an official warning for the interview.[49] Coach Waqar Younis also expressed his unhappiness at having no input in selection, however Mohsin Khan, the chief selector, defended the decision, stating "it is not written down in the PCB constitution that the coach and captain(s) must have a say in the selection of any squad".[50] Pakistan lost the series 3–2.
Afridi in the field during a 50-over warm-up match against Somerset at
the County Ground, Taunton, during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England.
After gaining victory as a captain against New Zealand, the PCB declared Shahid Afridi as Pakistan's captain for the 2011 World Cup. In Pakistan's opening match of the tournament, Afridi took 5 wickets for 16 runs against Kenya, giving him the best bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler in a World Cup.[55] In the following match against Sri Lanka, which Pakistan won, Afridi claimed for more wickets to help his side to victory and became the second player to have scored 4,000 runs and taken 350 wickets in ODIs.[56][nb 2] He claimed 17 wickets from 6 matches in the first round of the Cup, including a five-wicket haul against Canada,[57] as Pakistan finished top of their group and progressed to the next stage.[58] After beating the West Indies in the quarter-final, with Afridi taking four wickets,[59] Pakistan were knocked out of the semi-finals in a 29-run defeat to India.[60] Afridi was the tournament's joint-leading wicket-taker with 21 wickets, level with India's Zaheer Khan, even though Afridi had played one match less than him.[61]
Soon after the World Cup Pakistan toured the West Indies for a T20I, five ODIs, and two Tests. Pakistan lost the only T20I[62] but won the ODI series that followed 3–2.[63] Afridi took two wickets and scored 28 runs in the series.[64][65] The coach, Waqar Younis, fell out with Afridi and in his report on the tour criticised Afridi, saying "as a captain he is very immature, has poor discipline, lacks a gameplan and is unwilling to listen to others' opinions or advice".[66] After the series, on 19 May the PCB replaced Afridi as ODI captain with Misbah-ul-Haq for the two-match ODI series against Ireland later that month. In 34 ODIs as captain, Afridi led his side to 18 wins and 15 defeats.[67] Afridi subsequently withdrew from the touring squad, citing the illness of his father.[68]
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